Working From Home
For teachers, the modern idea of working from home (WFH) is a double-joke: on the one hand you have to be in front of a class and, on the other, you have hours of preparation and marking at home beyond the workplace. Anyone who is, or knows, a teacher is familiar with that experience.
I was working from home while self-employed in a variety of consultancy roles for many years – and before it became a widely understood abbreviation.
I enjoyed the different types of people and their organisations that I experienced. I had been faced with uncertainty even while I had a so-called permanent job. There were so many reviews and re-structurings that it was really like an annual contract. I used to say it didn’t bother me much – for three months every year.
I even enjoyed the travel and visiting different places. It was better than the daily routine journey by car or by train. For years I put up with two hours in each direction. But it was the days before video-conferencing or zoom meetings.
Self-imposed structure is the way to manage working alone or WFH. I would walk for the newspaper mid-morning to create a break. I would ensure I touched-base with people by email or phone on a regular basis. It didn’t seem we had the overload of “CC-all”. And no-one phoned to ask “did you get my email?”
The obvious point about people remote working, or distributed teams, is that they are most effective when rooted in personal connections. In other words, when people know each other. I was subjected to many away-day, getting-to-know-you, ice-breaker sessions. Indeed, I was responsible for some, too. They were often cringe-worthy. However, I wonder about young people joining the workforce and how the relate to each other – at work and socially. They have infinite possibilities in terms of making connections with people. But the coffee station or water-cooler is more up-close and personal.
See this anguished article in The i Paper headed
“My Gen Z team are faking it when they work from home”
https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/gen-z-team-faking-work-from-home-361097
Suggestions given:
- Time to establish the kind of manager you want to be
- Refamiliarise yourself with the company’s expectations
- Get to know your team better
- Suggest an off-site day
WFH vs Office
For the benefit of others, as much as myself, I share a thread from Threads by Daisy.Ilaria
The whole WFH vs. Office debate is missing the point. Employees don’t hate the office. They hate what comes with it. Here’s what’s really pushing people away from in-person work – and what actually makes them want to go in.
People aren’t against the office itself. They’re against:- 90-minute commutes just to sit on Zoom calls all day – Back-to-back meetings that should’ve been emails instead – Open-plan offices that makes deep work impossible (because everyone is distracting you) – Feeling judged for leaving “too early” despite starting at 7am. It’s not about the place. It’s about workflow, energy, and autonomy.
Want people to WANT to come in? Fix this:
1. Stop forcing attendance if in-office time adds no value. (make sure there’s physical activities to do together – walking 1:1s, brainstorming sessions etc)
2. Design workdays for productivity, not just visibility.
3. Give people control over when, where, and how they work best. If the office was actually a great place to do great work, people wouldn’t need to be bribed to come back. They’d want to be there.How to be Happier at Work (backed by studies):
1. Have a close work friend you can trust (Harvard)
2.Engage in hands-on work instead of just digital tasks (IKEA Effect)
3. Work in 90-120 minute deep focus sessions without interruptions (Flow Theory)
4. Get outside daily for fresh air, sunlight, and a mental reset (Stanford)
5. Set boundaries and say no to extra work that drains you (University of California)
6. Reduce context switching to stay focused and avoid burnout (University of California)
7. Avoid workplace politics – it ruins trust, morale, and productivity (Harvard Business Review)
8. Take real breaks without checking emails or messages (University of Toronto)
9. Experiment with new tasks and challenges to stay motivated (Hedonic Treadmill Theory)
10. Change your workspace setup to boost creativity and focus (University of Exeter)After speaking with top performers across industries (sports, wellness, sales) for my podcast, I noticed 5 things they ALL had in common:
https://www.threads.net/@daisy.ilaria
1. They prioritise sleep & energy over working late.
2. They network strategically – not just randomly.
3. They advocate for themselves, even when it feels really uncomfortable.
4. They invest in learning, even when they’re “ too busy”
5. They say NO to things that drain them or don’t make them money…
Which one did you need to hear today?
Conclusion
In terms of my working life I have experienced individual and team effort, with an office-base and working from home. I have worked in teams and provided a leadership role for teams. I kept a diary, work-log and task lists. It was the basis of bullet journaling which I have written about here >
Do you have experiences or views on WFH to share?
Reference
Niksen – The art of doing nothing: have the Dutch found the answer to burnout culture? The Guardian
